Add extra RAM to your computer or laptop without even opening the case

Add RAM to your computer in less than five seconds! You don’t even have to open the case to add more RAM to your computer and give it a boost. RAM is an acronym for Random Access Memory – and more than anything else inside your computer, RAM can make your computer blazingly fast (if you have enough) or annoyingly slow (if you don’t have enough).

Did you know that adding that extra UMPH! to your computer by adding more RAM can be done just by plugging in a ReadyBoost enabled USB flash drive? A ReadyBoost enabled USB flash drive can be used as extra RAM on your Vista and Windows 7 computer to increase your system speed dramatically! While it is very easy to do, keep in mind that even if you have auto-run enabled for external devices, you will still probably have to manually enable ReadyBoost. Keep in mind that only high-speed ReadyBoost drives will work – and not all USB Flash Drives are ReadyBoost capable. You can only use ReadyBoost if you’re using Windows Vista or Windows 7 … just to make that clear.

Here is a short tutorial:

Step I: Insert the USB, open My Computer, then right click on the drive letter that corresponds with the USB.

Step II: Choose Properties from the dropdown menu as shown in this screenshot

Step III: When you choose Properties, a new window will open. Choose the ReadyBoost tab as shown below. If you do not see this tab, then the USB you have inserted is not ReadyBoost compatible.

Step IV: You can choose to dedicate the entire USB to ReadyBoost, or a percent of the free space on the USB. If you have an extra USB we suggest you plug it into a port on the back of your PC, set it to “Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost” and just leave it there all the time.

If you only want to dedicate part of it for ReadyBoost, click the “use this device” option. Then, using the slider, decide how much space you want to use for ReadyBoost. This is a good option if you just want a temporary boost in RAM to complete a project or for a particular session.

Keep in mind that space reserved for ReadyBoost cannot be used to store files. Also, once you choose to use a USB for ReadyBoost, you can change your mind easily and go back to storing files on it.

From my understanding adding ReadyBoost doesn’t really help processor performance. I think it helps speed up searching, and the loading of hard drive files such as the loading of a big folder of pictures or music files. But ReadyBoost is still a cool feature to help overall computer performance.

RAM has nothing to do with the processor. Every program you run is loaded into RAM. If you run out of RAM, Windows creates virtual memory from free hard drive space. Virtual Memory is not nearly as fast as RAM – or as fast as memory from a ReadyBoost flash drive. Hard drives “spin up” and the seek times makes virtual memory a poor substitute for RAM (Physical Memory) or ReadyBoost-added memory. ReadyBoost-added memory isn’t quite as fast as RAM but it’s much faster than Virtual Memory carved from your hard drive. In any case, your processor and your RAM are two completely different things.

It’s not outdated at all. In fact, it works exactly as described in Windows 8 RP too. If it doesn’t “pop-up” for you, then you have a Windows issue — there no problem with the information. It’s just as current today – as it was when it was written.

Can this speed up/enhance performance for high RAM consuming programs, such as Adobe After Effects ? Does this dramatically increase the laptop’s RAM, or only by a little? (My laptop has 6 GB RAM currently)

I plugged in a 16GB flash drive, but windows recommended only to use 4GB as readyboost. Now My question is, Can i use the rest space for normal operations of pen drive like storing and transferring files?

I’m not aware that Microsoft limits it to a 4GB flash drive. I think that’s the minimum size they recommend. 32-bit systems can’t use more than 4 GB of RAM anyway so perhaps that’s what you read. Even if you did have a 32-bit system, you could still use a 16GB flash drive though.